STOLEN VOTES: Did Cruz “Steal Votes” as Trump Asserts? No.

Last night, after a fantastically chaotic and fun state assembly, Matt Drudge posted a headline that read: “Fury as Colorado Has No Primary or Caucus: Cruz Celebrates Voterless Victory”. As expected, those supporting Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s opponent, Donald Trump, took to Twitter to scream about the inequity of it all. Even Trump tweeted:

The people of Colorado had their vote taken away from them by the phony politicians. Biggest story in politics. This will not be allowed!

We are not advocates for any one presidential candidate, but it does seem that there is misinformation out there. First, the idea that there were no votes cast in order to send these 34 elected delegates is just plain wrong. On March 1, all registered Republicans were invited to attend neighborhood caucuses to elect delegates to county assemblies, which then elected delegates to state assemblies. Delegates to the congressional assemblies also were elected on March 1. Delegates to the national convention are elected – that means by vote – through the state and the Congressional assemblies. This process has been in place for some time.

It’s worth noting that two other states elect delegates in a similar fashion – Wyoming and North Dakota. These two states elected delegates over the past two weeks, and yet, we heard no charges of a “stolen” election in either instance.

What is different this year in Colorado is that the national Republican Party changed a rule. The new rule stated that any official presidential preference poll, or straw poll, taken must be binding. As a result, the Colorado GOP opted to not conduct a straw poll this year.

Last year, both parties tried to change to a presidential primary process, but it failed in the State Senate. While the process is overly complex and certainly favors party regulars, it is not corrupt.

Or, at least, it didn’t seem that way until the Colorado GOP tweet that launched a thousand wagging tongues. The night after Cruz swept the delegates, the official Colorado GOP Twitter account stupidly tweeted, “We did it. #nevertrump”. It’s likely just a simple mistake, but what idiotic incompetence. Also, who is “we” in the “we did it”? Is there someone who works at State Party that also works with a presidential primary candidate or PAC? That would seem to be a big conflict and one that should have been disclosed to the Colorado GOP.

Unfortunately, this tweet opened the door to allegations of cheating by State Party, and State Party must do more than simply investigate to avoid further accusations of rigging the system.

The tweet combined with misunderstandings about an overly-complex process clearly are causing some Colorado Republicans, especially Trump supporters, to feel disenfranchised. The time to complain about the system was either last May when a bill to move to a primary system was scrapped, or in August when the Colorado GOP decided to do away with a straw poll. It’s not today.

The process has been set for months, if not years, in some aspects. It’s no secret that Team Trump did not have a robust (read: any) operation here. Cruz did. It was aggressive and organized. Team Cruz plowed enormous manpower and other resources into the ground game and it paid off. He won through a process that may be flawed, but it is the process.

Instead of getting wrapped up in anger, those who feel disenfranchised would do well to change the system. Become advocates for a primary system, push for a binding straw poll, do something constructive with your frustration. Make things better.

CPP: Authors ought to have the courage to put their names on articles. Regardless, someone who wishes to remain anonymous wrote in the above article that, "While the process is overly complex and certainly favors party regulars, it is not corrupt."
You establishment supporters just don't get it. The process IS corrupt and you just stated why: because it favors party regulars. A lot of people – on all political sides – have been predicting for months now that what the Colorado GOP establishment was planning to do in this caucus was going to backfire on them. They didn't listen (presumably because vote suppression is deeply ingrained in the GOP culture). But this time, they disenfranchised many of their own voters. So Cruz "won." Look up Pyrrhic Victory.

David DesRochers Maybe if the Independents picked a side instead of letting the worst candidate win because you threw a hissy fit and took your ball and bat and went home. You Independents are as much to blame as anyone.

It's clear the fix was in. The former head of the CO GOP told Ingraham the reason they changed the rule in August was to keep Trump out. Then the tweet sealed the deal. Anyone who is defending this must be considered establishment.

Barry Ferguson Well, you might understand that we do not have a Democracy. We have a Republic that is designed to prevent mob rule. The caucus system is actually the closest to the outlines of Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. It is not a corrupt system. Complicated, but not corrupt. Just because you do not understand it and Trump was incompetent does not make it so.

David Brown, I complained before the cacus. I was a delegate and I received 10 robo calls for delegates asking for my vote, were Cruz supporters. I knew in my heart on friday day before State, Cruz was going to win. Why because of the congressionals and what the party elites wanted. So the old man was correct. He was not late and it always takes time to get credentials!

We as members of the republican party, were not notified by the committee rule change in Aug 2015. The Rule, came out in the open, with a response few days before the caucus, by Gop leader. The Denver Post did a article in Aug 2015, buried in a last page. In fact the nation, was including Colorado in the first Super Tuesday for weeks , leading up to cacus. It was the final week, when the news media realized the rule change. So no we were taken by surprised.

This Colorado process of deligates electing delegates electing delegates only results in the power handed over to the top, the State Senate, which will not relinguish their power. Once again, the Elitist have the power to control the people's voice and vote, or whall I say the people's no-vote.

Kelly Mundell, please stop trying to explain this. They will not believe what you are telling them, no matter how many times you try and explain it. I too was a delegate at the state convention. I had Trump supporters to the left and right of me, but Cruz had a bigger following, you could tell from the beginning that Cruz supporters had been working towards this for a long time. I too supported Cruz, and worked my way through the process to be able to vote for delegates to support Cruz at the National Convention. And anyone that thinks I'm an insider can kiss my backside. I'm a 28 year law enforcement officer from small town Colorado and nobody forces me to do anything except my WIFE. So all you Trump supporters, I feel for you, but it was all honest and above board. PERIOD!

Kelly Mundell I'm not from Colorado, but I spent a summer there. So I'm an outsider, so what? That doesn't change the cold hard fact that the GOP CANCELLED A PUBLIC VOTE because they were afraid their party boy wasn't going to win. That's NOT democracy! The whole thing is a farce!

What was done in Colorado is a disgusting perversion of America's democratic system. If the public doesn't get a vote, how is that democracy? What did you win, exactly? The corruption is so blatant it's insane. You, Cruz, and the Colorado GOP should be absolutely ashamed. I'm not even a Trump supporter. I'm a Paul supporter, and I supported his father the last time around. This cannot stand in any country that wants to call itself "free".

Kelly Mundell There were 49 out of 600 pledged delegates, or 8%. That's pretty pathetic for someone who is supposedly leading nationally. I should know – I counted them myself Saturday morning when I noticed how few of them there were. I'm sure there were many more unpledged delegates but we have no way of knowing that because unpledged means you can't know who they are supporting unless they tell you, which some of them did when they realized no one would vote for them blindly. Face it, the only reason Donald Trump cares about Colorado now is so he can gin up his supporters before his NY primary with his lies, because he obviously didn't care about it before Saturday, or even when the congressional districts held their assemblies.

Hey Kelly;
First, I'm no "Alex Jones/InfoWars/PrisonPlanet" conspiracy kinda guy…..Again, as I wrote above, no matter how "Fair" this caucus process is purported to be; no matter that the rules were allegedly followed; the fact remains that Donald Trump, who has a 12 point lead in Colorado over Ted Cruz, came out of this Colorado "Back Room/Closed Door" caucus process with NO DELEGATES! Again, as stated, spin it any way you want, there is a look of impropriety and fraud here, and yes, it's apparently not just me; as I understand it, there are several protests planned for later this week, and I tend to believe that this isn't the end of the story.

Keith Eidson, additionally, there were many Trump pledged delegates at the convention lobbying for votes and who appeared on the ballot. Hundreds of them. They were not barred from the door… Their votes were not cancelled or ignored. Why is Lindsay being picked on as the sole savior of the Trump campaign. Where are the hundreds of others who should have also been denied? Surely they would be all over the news too. C'mon man. I believe the roster of national delegates may still be on the State GOP website. Here it is, the list of national delegate candidates, how they pledged and how many votes they received:

David DesRochers
Now that I can stand behind. This is the reason why there is a big surge behind non-establishment candidates and I am 100% behind those candidates. Like it or not we have a two-party system and the reason I registered with a party is to have a say in who gets on the ballot for that party. Had we not stepped up and supported an unknown at the Congressional District 5 caucus we would have, by default, had another term of a 20 year establishment candidate. Now republicans will have a choice in the primary election – an election you won't be able to participate in if you live in CD5 – because you are unaffiliated. Instead, since there is no Democrate running, you would be left with one choice, the one that registered republicans made for you. This is why party affiliation is important. This same scenario happens all the time, in many districts, Democrat or Republican.

Kelly Mundell Not exactly! The RNC mandated that the outcome of a straw poll be reflected in the delegate count. Of course, this was decided last August, but it still doesn't negate the blatant misrepresentation of the delegates selected by the Colorado Caucus and now the alleged disenfranchisement by some; (namely Larry Lindsey from Douglas County who claims his vote was nullified because he voted for Trump). Again, as I started out with my initial comment, one cannot look at this as being anything less than improper and fraudulent.

Pretty clear in the story why the State GOP cancelled the straw poll. They believed that delegates would be bound to a candidate at the national convention even if that candidate dropped out of the race by that time. Would there have been a difference in the outcome? Maybe. I doubt it.

Keith Eidson
I didn't read the link but I would venture a guess that they didn't poll delegates. There are a number of GOP "elitists" who were delegates to be sure but we are talking about a small percentage of the thousands of normal, non-elitist, average citizens like myself who simply care about our local community and this country enough to learn the process and who take the time to participate. No pollster talked to me or called me on the phone. If those Trump supporters (and I was one until he showed that on a number of occasions he doesn't grasp a firm understanding of important issues) cared enough then they should have simply went to their neighborhood caucus and participated. Independents here out-register republicans. Maybe the vast majority were independent and in that case they can't be elected delegates. You actually have to figure out what you believe in and pick a side. Something I learned 30 years ago.

Kelly Mundell No matter how you and the ruling class elitist establishment RNC and the Colorado Republican Committee (and Ari Armstrong!) try to spin this and claim "Fairness"; the whole process and most especially the outcome, (again, with polls showing Donald Trump with a double digit lead over Ted Cruz; and Trump receiving NO DELEGATES!) smells and reeks of "The Big Fix"!

I am honored to be the Grassroots Director for the Ted Cruz campaign in Colorado. Along with my core team, Bill, Mike, and John, we worked outside the party and within the caucus/assembly/convention process to elect delegates to the RNC Convention. Passionate Cruz supporters across the state spent countless hours calling Colorado voters and asking them to attend their neighborhood caucus and to consider being delegates themselves to the various assemblies in the process. Long time conservatives and newly involved voters responded with enthusiasm to our call. Without this dedicated team of Colorado conservative outsiders we would not have the 34 Cruz committed delegates that we have today. Each and everyone has my eternal thanks and gratitude for a job well done. They are the unsung heroes of this win. Outsiders to be sure. I've lost sleep, friends, and my job to ensure that Senator Ted Cruz is the candidate nominated to be the next President of the United States. No regrets! Now on to the next phase of delivering a Colorado win. Please join the team at http://www.TedCruz.org.

Maripat Horne Sparks I'm an independent voter and maybe if the political parties actually gave a damm our country wouldn't be as screwed up as it is. But please continue to spin the benefits of a flawed system.

Is that how two virtually unknowns got put on the Congressional District 5 and State Senator ballots? The CD5 unknown fell just 18 votes short of becoming a congresswoman right there as there is no democrat running for that office. The virtually unknown Senate candidate received 70% of the vote knocking well known and special interest candidates out if the race since they needed 30% of the votes to get on the ballot and the 30% was split among 5 other candidates. Maybe you should attend a caucus and assembly some time and stop letting the predominant liberal mass media spoon feed you your assumptions and un-educated opinions.

I went to my caucus – first timer – and was elected to be our precinct delegate at the congressional district and state. I could hardly call myself an insider or republican "leader" – I'm brand new to the process. I figured out what was going on and voted my conscience. Cruz gave a fabulous speech, he did his homework and he deserved every single delegate that he got. It's the Trump supporters who are spinning this and no one else. The caucus system works, whether you like the outcome or not. Don't like it? Then learn how it works and come and participate. Don't cry a river when you don't even take the time to show up to your caucus. Damn cry babies.

Yes. You are an outsider looking in who obviously knows not a thing about what you are talking about. I am an "average joe" and native of Colorado Springs. I have known about and attended caucuses for years. Each precinct has a caucus. My neighbors elected myself and several other neighbors to represent them at the county, congressional and state assembly's. Each congressional district gets to elect three national delegates and three alternates. At the state assembly we elected 13 at large delegates and 13 alternates. At the congressional I voted for 2 Cruz 2 Trump and 2 un-pledged (1 each delegate and alternate). At the State assembly, since Trump and Kasich don't care enough to show my 26 votes went to national delegates who pledged Cruz. I'll bet thousands of delegates there felt the same as myself and voted mostly Cruz, us Coloradans are funny that way when we are treated like candidates don't give a crap about us. I am a middle class citizen who went through the process, arrived early, had all the information about what and where by reading my emails from the GOP, and represented my precinct. When I had a question I asked well ahead of time. Nobody twisted my arm or paid me to vote a certain way. I saw nobody denied entrance and I sat next to a whole bunch of people who looked middle class just like me. There were hundreds of pledged delegates on the ballot for both presidential candidates and at least as many unpledged. Trump and the rest of the spin doctors here are the liars. Your naievety does this country absolutely no good.

I'm not from Colorado, so I'm the proverbial "Outsider Looking In"….Whether it was fair, or even assuming all of the stories in the comments are true, (e.g.; that "Trump sent a lackey"; or that the Trump campaign "erroneously placed inaccurate information regarding his own slate of delegates" , and/or there was an; "angry old man who was likely bent because he was the one who was late and forgot his credentials"; there is a perception of impropriety. More importantly, why is it that Colorado doesn't have a primary for it's nomination process, like most all other States do? This would elimiinate the perception(s) especially of the Colorado Republican Committee, or the RNC having undue influence! Instead, there is a notion of Colorado choosing a candidate by a select group of ruling class elitist establishment power-brokers; and this ain't good!

Trump delegates did not get replaced by Cruz delegates. Good grief. You saw a video of an angry old man who was likely bent because he was the one who was late and forgot his credentials and had to stand in line to get them issued all over again and by the time he did all that they had already counted him as a no-show and moved up an alternate to delegate.

Hmmm… Can't seem to find where they claimed nobody complained about not having a straw poll. You should understand that if we would have had a straw poll, which essentially means nothing, then we could have lost half of our delegates. That's what really should piss you off, not anything the state GOP did.

I'll be nice since you are a high school kid who doesn't know anything except what you've read on Drudge, which is completely wrong but you seriously have no idea what you're talking about.

I don't particularly like the system as it stands at this time, I prefer the old system. But that being said, I did what I could within the constraints of the present caucus system and worked my way up to be a delagate at the state assembly. Anyone that tells you Cruz cheated and won be deceit is either uninformed, or dishonest. And Mr. Terry, Trumps delagates were on the roster, lots of them, but the overwhelming support shown was for Ted Cruz. You don't have to like it, but that's the truth. At least he showed up and addressed the assembly, Trump sent a third rate lackey, at least Kasich sent somebody most republicans had at least heard of.

Trump's campaign provided inaccurate information regarding his own slate of delegates on Saturday. You can bemoan the process all you want, the fact your candidate can't figure out how to block and tackle in a caucas system speaks volumes about his incompetence…not to mention his staff and his supporters.

Misunderstandings about an overly complex process. He won through a process that is flawed ( unsound, defective, distorted, faulty, inaccurate, incorrect, fallacious, imprecise, misleading ), but it is the process. Instead of being angry do something about it. What a bonehead. Clearly the complex process is in place to insure unscrupulous double dealing. The Grand Ole Party isn't so grand anymore.